VI. Thesis/Dissertation Defense and Final Oral Examination

The Master’s thesis or Ph.D. dissertation must be prepared in accordance
with the specifications described in The Graduate School Guide to the Preparation
of Master's Thesis and Doctoral Dissertations, which is available from
the MSU Graduate School Office and at
http://grad.msu.edu/format.htm. This guide should be consulted during preparation.
The Graduate School also provides a package of material including a Ph.D. checklist,
an application for graduation, and information on distribution of the dissertation,
microfilming fee, and copyrighting. More information can be found on the web
at http://grad.msu.edu/graduation.htm.

Each EEBB student should consult his or her home department about the requirements
and expectations for submitting drafts of the student’s thesis or dissertation
to the major professor and the guidance committee. As discussed in Section III.A.9,
graduate students will benefit by writing portions of their thesis or dissertation
along the way, as parts of their research are completed, rather than leaving
all writing to the end. These written components should be shared with the major
professor, then discussed and revised as needed. Most major professors will
want to read, and will suggest one or more rounds of revision to the various
chapters of a thesis or dissertation, prior to their distribution to the guidance
committee as a whole. The student must allow ample time for review of the thesis
or dissertation by the major professor and guidance committee prior to the final
oral presentation and examination.

The requirements and expectations for the public presentation of research and
final exam are set by the EEBB student’s home department, and consistent
with requirements of the MSU Graduate School. All EEBB students should submit
an announcement to the EEBB Program Office giving the time, location, title
of their thesis or dissertation presentation, home department, major professor,
and guidance committee members at least one week prior to its scheduled time.
EEBB Program faculty and graduate students are encouraged to attend these presentations.

Graduate students must be registered for at least one credit during the semester
in which the final examination is taken. Students should consult the University
Calendar in the MSU Schedule of Courses and Academic Handbook for relevant
deadlines the semester before graduation is anticipated.

All doctoral dissertations submitted to the Graduate School Office must be
microfilmed. MSU subscribes to a service whereby one microfilm copy will be
deposited in the MSU Library and made available for interlibrary loan. The abstract
will also be published in Dissertation Abstracts, which will announce
the availability of the dissertation in film form. The microfilming and binding
fees must be paid by doctoral students submitting dissertations. An extra fee
will be charged if the dissertation is to be copyrighted. Microfilming is considered
by the University to be a form of publication. Publication by microfilm, however,
does not preclude the printing of the dissertation in whole or in part in a
journal or monograph.

ProQuest also offers an optional publishing agreement for theses and dissertations
that provides “Open Access” as an alternative to traditional publishing
options. Any student considering this option must consider the pros and cons
carefully, and should discuss the issues with his or her graduate advisor. If
a student chooses the Open Access option, then he or she authorizes ProQuest
to make an electronic version of the thesis or dissertation accessible to all
via the internet, including accessibility to the work via search engines. Commercial
retailers might even copy and sell the document, in which case a student selecting
the Open Access option will not be eligible to receive royalties. A student
who chooses to publish a thesis or dissertation in this manner must also ensure
that Open Access publishing does not violate copyright agreements on any portions
of the thesis or dissertation that have already been published, are in press,
that have been submitted for publication, or that the student may wish to publish
elsewhere in the future. For more information visit http://proquest.com/products_umi/dissertations/epoa.shtml.
Again, any student interested in exploring this option should discuss it fully
with his or her advisor.